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Fri 22 Apr, 2005 10:08 pm
St. Petersburg 5-year-old cuffed after school outburst
Associated Press | March 19 2005
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A 5-year-old girl was arrested, cuffed and put in back of a police cruiser after an outburst at school where she threw books and boxes, kicked a teacher in the shins, smashed a candy dish, hit an assistant principal in the stomach and drew on the walls.
The students were counting jelly beans as part of a math exercise at Fairmount Park Elementary School when the little girl began acting silly. That's when her teacher took away her jelly beans, outraging the child.
Minutes later, the 40-pound girl was in the back of a police cruiser, under arrest for battery. Her hands were bound with plastic ties, her ankles in handcuffs.
"I don't want to go to jail," she said moments after her arrest Monday.
No charges were filed and the girl went home with her mother.
While police say their actions were proper, school officials were not pleased with the outcome.
"We never want to have 5-year-old children arrested," said Michael Bessette, the district's Area III superintendent.
The district's campus police should have been called to help and not local police, he said.
Bessette said campus police routinely deal with children and are trained to calm them in such situations.
Under the district's code of student conduct, students are to be suspended for 10 days and recommended for expulsion for unprovoked attacks, even if they don't result in serious injury. But district spokesman Ron Stone said that rule wouldn't apply to kindergartners.
"She's been appropriately disciplined under the circumstances," he said.
The girl's mother, Inda Akins, said she is consulting an attorney.
"She's never going back to that school," Akins said. "They set my baby up."
most places they place the child abuser in cuffs. in historic ol' st. pete, they place the child in cuffs and abuse her...
Holy cow, if my neice did that and was 'arrested' there'd be some serious hell to pay.
"They set my baby up."
Her mother is Ma Barker.
Handcuffing a five year old seems, well, stupid.
Wasn't there a similar case not too long ago where a young child was tazered?
http://able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1205094#1205094
13 year old
65 pounds
tazered
Florida
Are the cops in Florida that frightened of children?
(and people wonder why I won't consider going to a Florida get-together. that is just too freaked-out a place for me)
I'm telling you, Florida is a wacked out state. Every week there's a new story. The only cool thing about Florida is that it looks like a penis.
What is this thing about bringing in the police?
In my opinion the child's behaviour was totally unacceptable & outrageous, but call in the police? .... How come there aren't internal policies within the school & the state education authorities to deal with a situation like this?
Lash wrote:"They set my baby up."
Her mother is Ma Barker.
i don't care if her mother is adolph hitler in drag. what kind of numbskull puts a kindergartener in handcuffs ???
Lash wrote:"They set my baby up."
not to mention, that's the only thing you got out of the article ?? i
know that you are much, much smarter than that lash.
put the agenda down for a minute and use the fine mind that i know you have. you'll see that this is not right. :wink:
Yes, it's a ridiculous over-reation, I agree. It shouldn't have happened like that at all.
But what's to be done about this child's totally unacceptable behaviour?
Firmly taken out of class.
Put somewhere safe to cool down.
Consequences considered.
Help for parents to raise her better?
It is terrible to think this kid now has the message that her anger and behaviour is so uncontainable that POLICE need to be called, and she needs to be handcuffed!!!
What are they gonna do next time? Mace her? Shoot her?
Jesus wept.
It possible the poor baby has some kind of disorder or something since she just started acting up like that out of the blue. To call the police and then have people defend such a terrible action just blows me away. What in the world is this world coming to?
It has occurred to me that this mightn't have been "out of the blue" behaviour by the child, revel. But by calling in the police the school authorities have most likely worsened the situation for the child & also for the school.
You must be an early riser like myself.
According the story it seems out of blue, but nevertheless, it is an extreme behavior that points at possible mental problems.
She is only five years old for christ's sake. Surely we haven't reached the point where we write off five year olds as beyond saving and put them in jail?
dlowan wrote:Firmly taken out of class.
Put somewhere safe to cool down.
Consequences considered.
Help for parents to raise her better?
It is terrible to think this kid now has the message that her anger and behaviour is so uncontainable that POLICE need to be called, and she needs to be handcuffed!!!
What are they gonna do next time? Mace her? Shoot her?
Jesus wept.
Hmmm ... I'm wondering if the problem is adequate resourcing of the school/s?
I'm wondering if the school has the resources to deal with instances like this? Do they have adequately trained staff, welfare officer/s, the facilities to cope? In no way am I suggesting that calling in the police in an instance like this is excusable, but I'm wondering if this is yet another public school that is struggling from under-resourcing?
I think it is safe to say that there is no such thing in an American school as a welfare officer. There might be a school nurse, to give you an aspirin and advise a bit of a lie down until one of your parents arrive--but that's about it.
Many schools do now have security officers, and will call the police at the drop of a hat. A boy in Gahanna, Ohio, on the eastern side of Columbus, was sent home and received administrative discipline for having brought a set of nail clippers to school, with which it was alleged he threatened another student. His mother brought suit.
Students bring hand guns to school, as well. That happened just a short while back in Columbus, and an uncle of the boy was convicted. But the point is that there is a siege mentality in schools here now. Much of it is for good and sufficient reason; much of it is also self-manufactured. Walk past many, perhaps most, schools these days, and you will see prominent signs advertising them as drug-free, weapons-free zones. This is in response to the hue and cry of a sensationalist local media, who hope to boost their viewership ratings by spooking the PTA (Parent-Teacher Association). In some urban settings, the security concerns are legitimate--large schools are many of them become dangerous. But a great many of the incidents which arise are the conclusions of self-fulfilling prophecies, exacerbated by media sensationalism.
By the way, it seems that no one here has taken notice of the addictive substance in this scenario--sugar. They were counting with jelly beans, and the little girl went postal when they took her jelly beans, read: sugar, away.
I'm completely serious here, i've seen video of children in professional therapy settings who go hysterical when denied sugar. A great many children are seriously addicted to sugar.
Setanta
You paint a very depressing picture of public schools in the US. It sounds as though they're run on the smell of an oily rag. <sigh> I guess it's no wonder that incidents like this one happen, also give the apparent lack of support from the community & the media. (Public schools in Oz are cash-strapped, too, but not nearly to that extent.)
Oh, I know about the sugar addiction thing! It's true. I'm a teacher!
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